Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Bank of America had a net margin of 14.10% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $27.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.83 billion.

Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BAC traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $37.44. 47,052,978 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 39,127,145. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Bank of America Co. has a 1 year low of $33.07 and a 1 year high of $48.08. The company has a market cap of $284.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $41.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.59.

Bank of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Bank of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.95%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of America

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Bank of America stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC - Free Report) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 25,143 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Bank of America were worth $4,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors own 70.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BAC. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Bank of America from $51.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Baird R W raised shares of Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research raised their price target on Bank of America to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Bank of America from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Bank of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.20.

About Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.